Consumers are becoming more aware of the deterioration of the quality of the water supplies from their city or rural water system, or private well system. Many retailers currently sell bottled water and other beverage products in off-the-shelf containers. Some retailers use point-of-purchase dispensers that purify water and dispense it into a container provided by the consumer. Other people have bottled water delivered to their homes or business, often in 5 gallon containers designed to fit on a water cooler. The market for these forms of bottled water is emerging to the point where purified water is a basic commodity.
One problem with any of these sources of bottled water is product quality. Presently there is a concern that bottled water may not be much better than tap water. On top of this, the various distribution systems have drawbacks.
Where bottled water is sold off the shelf, there are costs involved in transporting the water from the bottled water plant, through the wholesale and retail distribution system, storing the water at warehouses and in the back room at retailers, and stocking shelves, not to mention the shelf space taken up by the product. Also, the time between when the water is produced and bottled and when the consumer purchases it may be a period of weeks and even months. Of course, leaking bottles also cause a problem, such as when a pallet of cases of bottled water are stacked in a warehouse or the back room of a store.
Delivered bottled water is generally more expensive because of the delivery costs, and is also subject to some of the disadvantages described above. In addition, the delivery process itself has disadvantages, such as the scheduling of delivery times, and the possibility that delivery personnel or equipment will track in mud or dirt into the office or other place of use.
One problem of water quality is of course when the purification is not complete. However, if all impurities are removed from the water, it may have a reduced pH that then causes the water to leach minerals or other harmful components from processing equipment, storage containers, and even the body when the water is consumed. It is a common experience to open a container of bottled water and find that it has acquired an off taste, especially when stored in some plastic containers.
Another problem existing with delivered water is that it wastes resources. Initially, fuel is needed to truck the bottled water from the processing plant to the consumers. Typically, the containers in which the water is purchased are not reused and end up in landfills, where their final disposal requires the expenditure of energy. Even if recycled, by plastic recycling or the like, fuel is consumed in transporting the containers to the recycling plant.
Point-of-sale dispensing of water overcomes some of the drawbacks of other bottled water distribution systems, but also presents new problems. First, because the dispensing equipment is used by the public, it is subject to contamination. Also, even if the water is purified, there is no control over the cleanliness of the container into which it is dispensed. Often, to reduce costs, many water purification and dispensing systems have a small processing capacity coupled with a storage tank. Thus, water is purified on a slow, continuous basis, but is stored to meet demand. These large storage systems present long holding times that are not conducive to water purity, and if the tanks are not sealed, to the possibility of contamination.
For example, one point-of-sale dispensing machine which lacks most of these problems is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/947,125, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,682. This application discloses a water purification and dispensing apparatus which purifies municipal water. The device has two separate compartments. The first compartment is for receiving an empty container in an inverted position for washing while the second compartment receives the container in an upright position for filling with purified water.